At one time, Product Managers were considered a luxury in the Product Management field. Only the top-performing organizations and the best-selling companies could afford to hire Product Managers to improve their efficiency.
Today, Product Managers are less of a luxury and more of a necessity. Companies that want to stay competitive generally need at least one Product Manager, someone who can help optimize every stage of the product lifecycle.
To earn your spot in the Product Management field, you’ll first need the right education — and there are a number of education options you can choose from. Some aspiring Product Management professionals opt for a four-year degree program from a traditional university.
In other cases, you might choose to particulate in an accelerated bootcamp program, to learn fundamentals in record time.
In this article, we’re going to compare Product Management bootcamp and degree programs, to help you figure out which one is best for your career.
Product Management bootcamp vs degree: the basic distinctions
Both Product Management bootcamps and degree programs offer unique paths to well-paying Product Management careers. However, there are some clear distinctions between the two types of programs.
Bootcamps are short-term programs and courses (typically less than six months) that can range in price from a couple hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. These bootcamps are designed to enhance your skills and provide a firm foundation in the Product Management field.
By contrast, some aspiring Product Management professionals prefer a degree program, one that takes considerably longer and provides more of a background on the industry and applicable skills. Degrees aren’t always required by employers, particularly today — in an era where more and more students are migrating away from four-year degree programs in favor of faster, more affordable education.
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